


Catnap

by Moransroar



Category: James Bond (Craig movies), James Bond (Movies)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Fluff, M/M, Spectre who
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-03-03 17:06:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13345656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moransroar/pseuds/Moransroar
Summary: It's date night, but when James comes to pick Q up at Q Branch, the boffin doesn't seem exactly ready to go out.





	Catnap

**Author's Note:**

> Won't you look at that, I'm finally posting a 00Q thing I wrote.  
> Be gentle with me as my Bond verse fic-writing cherry is popped.
> 
> Kudos and comments are very much appreciated. Let me know if you'd like me to write more for this pairing!

“I hope you’ve worked up an appetite because I sure—“

James slowed down until he stopped in his tracks. He paused, heart very nearly stopping, until the slow rise and fall of a chest caught his eye and he breathed a sigh of relief. He let his hands slide into his pockets as a smile curled at one corner of his lips. The scene he was presented with was certainly _not_ a sight for sore eyes – quite the contrary:

One of Q’s cats was asleep on the corner of the Quartermaster’s desk, paws hanging over the edge; the other cat had jumped off its throne on the opposite end of the room to wind around James’ shins in greeting. And amidst a mess of papers, half of which had fallen to the floor (no doubt the cat’s misconduct), was the object of the agent’s affection: Q. Sound asleep.

James bent down and picked up the black cat by his feet, tucking it in the crook of his arm and absently scratching at its chin as he stepped further into the office. The majority of Q Branch had already headed off to find their dinners at home, and part of the nightshift crew was starting to arrive, and here was Q. James wondered if he’d slept in the past 30 hours. It sure didn’t seem like it. Maybe he should call off their reservations or postpone them to another day. It seemed to James that Q could do with a night in, an order of takeout, and an episode or two of his favourite TV show.

The agent put the cat down and approached the desk. When he passed the other cat, a calico, it stirred and rolled onto its back with a purr, very nearly sliding another multitude of papers to the floor. It was clear that whatever Q had been doing, he’d been in a hurry, otherwise his desk would have been much tidier than it currently was.

James reached out and put his hand with a tender gentleness through the wayward mess of curls that hung as short curtains over the arms upon which Q had rested his forehead. Q stirred ever so slightly, making a soft sound of waking up. This wasn’t the first time James had found the boffin like that. Though even Q didn’t like to make a habit out of it, there had been several occasions on which either James, Eve, one of Q’s many minions, or even Mallory had walked in on him catching some shuteye. He got away with it most of the time, yet sometimes was sent home with a kind warning and the suggestion that he get as much sleep as he could before coming in the next day. Recharge, replenish, and get back on track.

Q’s head turned sideways and he blinked, his hair falling in his face but he peered through it at the man hovering over him. “Bond,” he determined sleepily. With that revelation, he didn’t find it necessary to jump out of his chair and immediately straighten himself. He’d done that often enough, but not anymore – not with James. “Oh, blast, the date…” He muttered with a groan as he lifted his head from his arms and realised why the other was even there in the first place. James’ hand remained in his hair.

“Would you rather stay in tonight?” James asked. Q considered it.

“No, no we’ve been rescheduling this forever. It’s time we—“ he broke off with a yawn, “—actually go.” Q was up out of his chair the next moment, rubbing at his eyes. The cats didn’t seem fazed by the awakening of their master. Where Q had once sat, the black cat immediately took his place on the warmed leather. With Q, those little devils really lived like kings.

 “Will you drop me off back here afterwards?” Q asked James as he went to the corner of the office to grab his coat and scarf. He looked a little reluctant when he glanced around the room at the papers strewn around – like he rather hoped that James would just set fire to it all already, damn it all, burn it and have it over and done with so they could go home and lose track of time between the sheets of their bed instead.

James did shake his head, though Q was fairly certain that he’d never deliberately go full arsonist on his paperwork. “I’m taking you home afterwards. So that you can sleep, Q, don’t give me that look.” Q had raised his eyebrows suggestively at him, though it looked dopey more than anything with how sleepy he still looked. Q turned to the large cat carrier under his coat rack and picked it up to place it in the middle of the room, then he produced a bag of cat treats from his inner coat pocket. He only had to shake it once to have both cats’ attention. When he opened the carrier, the felines got the hint, and both jumped off their respective nests to duck into the thing. When Q had closed the door, he gave each cat a treat through the thin metal bars.

“Can we drop them off at home on the way there?” Q asked James, who looked at his watch to see if they had the time. They had plenty, enough to go by Q’s flat and let the cats loose in their own home at the very least, and perhaps enough that it would allow Q to get changed as well, so he nodded.

He offered the boffin his arm.

“Let’s get your critters home, and maybe then we’ll reconsider going. You look like you could profit from Thai in bed and a movie you’ve already seen four times before.”

 

They did end up going out after Q had scrubbed his face with icy water and had gotten a change of clothes at home, and their dinner date was a great success. They both agreed that they had to make time for those things more often. For each other.

On the way back, James grunted along softly to a song on a CD Q had insisted he leave in the car. The heating was on, and with it even James started to feel a little drowsy, but they were almost there. He looked sideways at Q when he’d not commented on the song for a while, and he found him slumped in his seat, head turned to the window. His breath fogged up against the glass and his cheek was pressed into the seatbelt that stretched across his shoulder. And what a sweet sight that was, his Quartermaster, sound asleep once more. It certainly had been a busy 36 hours for him.

James parked his car in front of Q’s block of flats and ended up carrying the man inside. He didn’t want to wake him – it would be a waste.

As the agent was undressing himself to dive into the bed beside an already undressed and tucked-in Q, the younger man turned onto his side and sleepily folded back the covers for his lover. His eyes opened a fraction and he wore a soft smile.

“Thank you for tonight,” he whispered.

James took hold of the edge of the covers and slid between the sheets, sidling up to the other. He knew the chilly toes would come before they pressed against his shins. By now, James was more than used to that, and he welcomed it with open arms like he did to the sleep-warm body that shuffled closer beside him.

“You are very welcome.”


End file.
